


The Curse of Blood & Bone

by Skullszeyes



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Blood, Blood Magic, Blood and Violence, Child Abandonment, Childhood Trauma, Children, Dark Magic, Dark One Captain Hook | Killian Jones, Dark One Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Dark One Emma Swan, Dark One Emma Swan, Dark One Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Dark One's Dagger (Once Upon a Time), Death, Elemental Magic, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Magic, Magic-Users, Magical Artifacts, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Strangers, Swearing, The Enchanted Forest (Once Upon a Time), Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2020-11-24 02:02:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20899820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skullszeyes/pseuds/Skullszeyes
Summary: Emma is a strong magic user unbeknownst to the Queen of The Enchanted Forest, or even her family. A year has passed since she became the Dark One, but there is one thing she has been curious about, and she needs to hunt for it, and to do so is to foil her outer persona, and at the same time, meet someone on the road who shares her curse, but is trying to stop her.





	1. The Dark One

**Author's Note:**

> So, the author (which is me) suffers from a severe mental disorder, so if I stop writing for a long extended time, do know that I will continue this story unless it randomly disappears. :) 
> 
> Any who, I was looking for this one video I watched years ago, and while I was looking for it, I kept watching Dark!Swan/Dark!Hook videos, and I got this idea to write a fanfiction! :D Which this is it. Tbh, it says slow burn, but atm, I don't see the story being 40k. I'm too depressed to focus on writing a long story (unlike my loz fic.)
> 
> I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated! :D

**Darkness is not born, it’s created.**

* * *

A grayish vortex appeared deep in the Enchanted Forest. It wasn’t the first one to appear, and it won’t be the last either. The winds became cold and shallow, the branches from the trees rustled, and throughout the realm, there was a sudden shift, a weight that all magic users and none users can feel. Only the ones who recognized this feeling would understand what it was that changed.

A new Dark One emerged into the world. 

The grayish liquid fell away from a body standing on the pedestal. They gasped, body shuddering, and they were covered in the same grayish hood that concealed their features.

However, this Dark One wasn’t the only one that was there. Another lived and breathed, smiling from afar as the Dark One standing upon the pedestal pushed back their hood, and revealed a beautiful women with long blonde hair, hollow cheeks, and hazel eyes full of fear and confusion. 

Fate was a funny thing.

* * *

**One Year Later.**

“What happened to your teacher?”

“He’s in jail,” the Queen spoke, fingers softly touching the tops of the glass bottles that sat inside a box, “it’s what he deserves. Trust me.”

“Trust you?”

The Queen gave the woman a pointed look, “Between me and him, I’m the better choice.”

The blonde haired woman with hazel eyes gave the Queen a smile. “Of course. The price he made is what gave him his consequence. Makes sense he would end up shriveled and old inside a cage.”

“It’s fortified,” said the Queen, absentmindedly. “For the worst.”

“He’s no longer a threat anymore, why bother?”

The Queen sighed, pulling out a bottle and turning to face the woman, “Because, Emma, he had done things worse than anyone has ever done in their lives. He deserves what is given to him.”

“He’ll die shortly,” Emma said, taking the offered bottle from the Queen. “He did live for thousands of years.”

The Queen chuckled, back straight, hair pinned up, while her makeup was heavy with thick lashes, eyeliner, and eyeshadow. Even her lips were a deep rouge. “I’m not even sure if it was a couple thousand, but he did what he wanted throughout the years. He made a mess of things, and once he came down from that, he ended back in his cell. Where he belongs. There’s no point in feeling sorry for him.”

Emma wasn’t exactly sure what the Queen was talking about. She seemed wistful, as if she had great moments with her former teacher, but Emma was getting the feeling that it wasn’t like that in the least. 

“He taught you things.”

“Difficult things,” the Queen said, crossing the room and opening a window. “He may have been harsh, but he gave me the necessary advice and power I needed at the time.”

“He was the Dark One,” Emma said, leaning against a desk, while the Queen turned around. “Now look where that got him, rotting inside a jail cell.”

The Queen nodded slowly, contemplating, “I do wonder what happened to his dagger. One moment he had it for thousands of years, the next, it’s gone from his grasp. Usually when a Dark One emerges, it’s because the last was killed by the next potential Dark One, someone with immense darkness residing in their hearts.”

“Or,” Emma said, smiling, “the darkness could look for a potential Dark One with a heart full of light so it could snuff it out.”

The Queen walked back over to her box. Emma watched as she closed the box, and the second the clasp was pushed into place, Emma felt magic in that single movement. She didn’t want anyone going inside, looking through what she had on hand. It was alright, Emma came for what she wanted, now this was idle talk. 

“Light isn’t snuffed out so easily,” the Queen said, gesturing for Emma to follow her out of the tower.

“But it can be corrupted,” Emma said, walking side by side with the Queen. 

“It’s a possibility, but darkness looks for potential hosts, and not someone who can be corrupted, it has to be a person that is immensely chosen to wield such power,” the Queen said. “Besides, everyone has a bit of darkness inside of them, and only the Dark One is truly rotten to the core, even how much I’ve caused this kingdom in his behalf, doesn’t mean I fell far.”

“Less so than your mother,” said Emma. 

The Queen narrowed her eyes, “I’m glad for the comparison, at least I know I’ve grown from _ her _influence.”

Emma smiled, “I meant no disrespect, Your Majesty.”

The Queen rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue at Emma’s mocking tone. “Regina, we’re friends, and family, no need for formalities. You are a growing magic user in your own right, and that does remind me.” Emma’s smile fell the moment she knew where this was going. “How is Henry?”

“He’s fine,” Emma said, looking to the portraits lining the walls as they walked by. “He spends most of his time with my parents, but he’s becoming more and more of a thief lately.”

“A thief?” the Queen—Regina—exclaimed, her features becoming worried and strained. “What do you mean, a thief? He’s a prince, why would he want to steal?”

Emma arched a brow, “He’s growing older, Regina, he does have his own interests.”

“And stealing is one of those interests?” Regina scowled, shaking her head. “If you’re worried—”

“I’m not.”

“Then, send him here, with me.” Emma knew Regina was going to ask, it was too obvious that over time she has become more clingy towards Henry. “Your parents aren’t doing much, and they might even be allowing this behavior from him.”

“I don’t think they notice,” Emma said. 

“And you do?” Regina asked, “and you don’t do anything about it?”

“I did talk to him.”

“I see that hasn’t helped in anyway.”

Emma sighed. They had this argument before on many occasions about Henry. It wasn’t that Emma didn’t mind that Regina cared about Henry, it was that Henry was growing older, and he wasn’t the clingy son he was when he was younger. Things change, and they’ll all have to deal with it.

“I’ll ask him, if it makes you happy.”

Regina calmed. “Yes, thank you, Emma.”

They continued down the hallway until they entered Regina’s main balcony where she liked to stand and look out toward the kingdom. Her large mirror also sat on the side, including a few extravagant couches. 

“Now, I wanted to talk about your training,” Regina said, waving at her Black Knights to leave the room. They bowed and walked off, leaving Regina and Emma alone on the balcony. “How’s it coming?”

“A lot more efficiently than I thought,” Emma said, tucking the glass bottle in one of her leather belts on the side. She brought up her hand, and like what Regina has taught her, she breathed in the air around them, and settled on pushing the magic toward her hand, and conjuring a flame. In seconds, it was there in her hand, perfect without the added burns Emma had gotten in the past.

Regina studied the flame that stayed fixed above Emma’s hand. The warmth was needed from the cool wind of autumn that began to form from the orange and brown leaves, and dying grass. 

“A lot faster than in the past,” Regina said, flicking her gaze at Emma who smiled, “you’ve been practicing.”

The smile stayed fixed on Emma’s face, and she let the fire die out as she curled her fingers, before dropping her hand beside her. “More and more each day.”

“There weren’t any burns on your hand either,” Regina said. “You’ve done more than that, but you finally managed to heal yourself. Your parents should be proud of that, knowing them, they dislike when they’re _princess_ is harmed.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Overprotective. I’m sure you understand.”

Regina gave her a light glare before walking toward her couch and sat in the center. “Continue, Emma, we’ll be here for another hour until I know you’ve managed the rest that I’ve taught you.”

“And then?” Emma asked, trying to seem eager.

“Then,” Regina grinned, “we’ll go onto the next lesson. It's been a long time coming, but a year is faster than most, and it usually takes a long time to master magic with ease and regality.”

“Does it have to be regality?” Emma asked, rolling her wrists and pulling wind into a circular motion in front of her. 

“For us, there has to be perfection,” Regina told her, “if there’s not, then we haven’t mastered anything but failure.”

Emma doubted Regina’s methods, but over time, she understood what Regina meant. Her former teacher taught her well, a strong magic energy performed in different aspects with enough patience and skill was needed. And Emma had struggled in the past, but things changed for her in more ways than she would’ve wanted, but now she had to deal with what she has. 

By the time they were finished, Regina left the room, while Emma wandered near the balcony, wiping sweat from her forehead. When she knew she was truly alone, Emma walked toward Regina’s desk and moved her hand over it, closing her eyes at the same time, and felt something inside of it. 

“I knew you were sentimental,” Emma whispered, pulling open the desk, at the same time, breaking the magic that was there, and taking out a small bag made of leather material, and she pulled at the string before taking out strands of dark hair that had gold glinting in the light. 

She uncorked the bottle she received from Regina and tipped it over, letting small droplets sink into the bag with all the hair. She placed the bottle back on her belt, and tied the bag closed. She felt the magic resonate with what she wanted, and placed it inside her pocket. 

Emma turned when she heard Regina speaking, and let her magic envelop her body in a cloud of grey smoke sparkling like frost. 

There was no time in dealing with Regina. The next thing she wanted was to speak to the teacher Regina praised over the years until he became nothing, but a man again. No longer the cruel magician he once was. There was no strength in his body, in his words, no malicious intent glinting in his dark eyes. 

Emma strolled through the dark cavern where the dwarves once mined and had created a jail. Her mother, Snow White, told her never to go there. The worst are locked up in this prison. The Queen, Regina, and the Blue Fairy, made sure they would never escape, only death would free them from what they’ve done. 

Emma, however, walked through those barriers and past the lonely men and women who sat in their cells, ignoring the empty ones, until she came to the end of the cavern and found herself standing before a strange looking cell crafted for this particular man. 

She took out the bag and squeezed her hand around it. The magic pulsed from this man, a remnant, a shallow memory, something lost and forgotten resurfacing with greedy fingers, but Emma made sure that it would never touch this man ever again. Not without purpose, and right now, he was where she wanted him to be.

“Hello,” she spoke in a clear crisp voice, grasping the bars of his prison and looking within, “Rumpelstiltskin.”


	2. Blood & Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma speaks with Regina's former teacher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a lot shorter than the first chapter, but that's alright. :) 
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.

He was a sunken old man sitting in the corner with dried dark hair covering his sickly face. His eyes bulged as he stared and stared, words barely leaving his quivering lips. The darkness once suited him well, but this was a poor attempt of who he was as it draped across his frailty. 

“Dark One,” he whispered, almost choking the words out. 

Emma stared at him on the other side of his cell. He had brought fear to the Enchanted Forest, and squabble with their lives for far too long. He deserved this cell, the loneliness, the price of never seeing his family again after the loss of power was stolen away.

“I need something from you,” Emma said, her fingers clenching around the bag she took from Regina. It pulsed like a heart beat in her palm, but it was not for him, not technically. 

“You,” he rasped, his lips twitching, “need something from  _ me? _ ”

Once when he wasn’t as weak and pathetic, he had invoked a lot more action in the wave of his hands. Even his smile was menacing. A little imp with too much power, a thousand years of knowledge stored in his head, the future cupped in his hands for him to play with. It caught up to him the moment his dagger left his hand, the safety of it falling out of his grasp, and into hers. 

“In a way,” Emma said, keeping her tone steady and complacent, “come closer, Rumpelstiltskin.”

The man didn’t move from where he was slumped against. His eyes searched her face as if seeking the truth he had learned years from understanding people’s features. The truth, the lies, and the words left unspoken, all the secrets hidden in the depths of their eyes, as if he could poke in their souls with utter ease. She wouldn’t be able to hide anything from him, but she only needed something small that could become useful pretty soon. 

“You can’t break these bars.” Rumpelstiltskin moved through the cell toward her. He almost looked rigid, less fluid as he had been when she fought him with a sword in the past, a marionette with broken limbs. He didn’t get too close, and his eyes were glinting, eager to know and understand. “I tried many times.”

“An ordinary man wouldn’t be able too,” said Emma, gripping the bar. “Closer.”

His lips twitched, pulling into his infamous smile that spoke cleverness and intrigue. Even as a mortal man without dark magic running in his veins, Rumpelstiltskin was still an unspoken foe, weaker, but still formidable with the large amount of knowledge he carried. 

He moved closer, turning his head slightly to the side, running his eyes across her face before meeting her gaze. “Is there something you want, Dark One?” 

“One,” Emma said, “you can stop calling me that.”

“Oh,  _ they _ don’t know, do they?” He tilted his head and looked up at the ceiling. 

“Two,” Emma ignored him, “give me your hand.”

Rumpelstiltskin frowned at her. “Are you intending to cut it off?”

“What use do I have with your dismembered hand?” Emma asked dryly. 

“A lot of uses with a hand, my dear,” Rumpelstiltskin said, extending his hand out of the cell, and she grasped it before he could pull it away, and dug her nails into the inside of his wrist, and he winced, but didn’t move. “Now…” he seemed interested at the sight of the little bag she was holding. “What is that?”

“It’s nothing you need to worry about,” she said, turning his arm so the blood that seeped from the broken skin could drip into the bag of hair. 

“Did you get that from Regina?” Rumpelstiltskin asked, brows furrowed, before he sniffed the air, he went still and attempted to tug his hand back, almost frantically. “I know that smell…that smell...”

There was enough blood in the bag and Emma let go of his arm, watching as Rumpelstiltskin fell back and scrambled deeper into his cell.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling, and pulling the cord to close the bag. The pulse grew stronger in his presence, but soon it’ll dim.

“What do you need a locater spell for?” he asked, hoarsely. 

Emma tipped her chin up, “I always thought you were smart enough to know the answers before they are asked.”

“My kin…” Rumpelstiltskin murmured, quiet and hollow in the corner as he blinked at Emma through his thin strands. “Why?”

“I need to make sure of something, and I’d rather do it before anyone else finds out about it.” Emma tucked the bag into her pocket. “The only one who’ll find out about this is you, but no one believes an old man who wasted his life for power at his word. Why bother when you twisted them in your long existence?”

Rumpelstiltskin glared, and once Emma would’ve been afraid of it if she wasn’t the one holding the dagger. “We both made a choice, the one moment I let go, and the next when you picked  _ it  _ up.” He chuckled. “Darkness does look amazing on one born of true love.”

Emma heard it before from someone who had been there. A man with a cunning smile and clever words unlike the one sitting inside this dark cell. They all get what they wanted in the end, and Emma made sure that what she was doing was meant to happen. She didn’t have Rumpelstiltskin's foresight, but she did have the need to understand the circumstance she was in. 

The darkness was not a toy to play with, it consumed and rotted, and for the last year she understood the ache and craving it brought her.

“How’s the other one?” Rumpelstiltskin asked, bringing Emma out of her thoughts. “ _ He _ hasn’t visited either since I last saw him.”

Emma stared at the dagger with her name sitting on the side of it, and let it fade from her hand, making sure it was in a safe place where no one would stumble upon it. 

“I have no interest in talking about  _ him, _ ” Emma said, turning to leave. “He disappeared about the same time you were captured.”

“And you replaced me,” Rumpelstiltskin said in a mocking sad tone. “I do wonder if that was his plan. To always leave and stray from the Dark One who took my place.”

“He disliked you more than you’d understand.”

He shook his head, grinning in the dark. “Oh, no, deary, _ you _ don’t understand that hatred that lives and thrives inside of  _ him _ . Not many could make a man fall as he had, and at the time, I reveled in it. It only makes sense a few hundred years saved his mind from insanity.”

“And you apparently lost yours,” said Emma, frowning. 

“My mind is why you are here, and many more will come to me before death takes me in its hold, and leads me to the afterlife.” He laughed while Emma walked away, past the many who laughed in unison to the former Dark One, to an aged man, to one who still sinks in the darkness that corrupted his heart. 

She had come for what she wanted, and Rumpelstiltskin was of no use to her. She didn’t care about what he said, or what will come to pass in the eventual days until his death. Right now, her plan was coming to its fruition, and all she had to do was get far away from this hole, and see where the heart takes her next.


	3. Truth or Lie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina visits the previous Dark One.

Regina felt something strange, it was subtle enough, but didn’t fade, and it lingered. She returned to the balcony and found Emma was gone. She suspected she left to care for Henry, or returned to her parents. What Regina was curious about was the magic residual, it was familiar, faint, and sharp.

She furrowed her brows as she walked over to her desk and pulled open one of the drawers, but in the light, she caught a strand of gold upon the dark surface. She inspected it before lifting it up between her fingers. This was not only familiar, she knew where this came from. She undid the magic, but found she hadn’t fully wiped it clean. 

“What?” she asked, reaching in for the pouch and pulled it open. The strand was the same as Rumpelstiltskin's hair she had kept for safe keeping if she ever needed to locate him. Not like she had to since she knew where he’d be, and in his state, he wasn’t about to escape his prison without outside help. And if someone powerful enough had come into the castle and broken her spell to grasp a piece of his hair, then they must be on their way to free him.

Except, she would’ve sensed them, but she didn’t. The only other person that was in the castle powerful enough to break the spell was herself. Emma wasn’t even close to the level of scratching surface of the spell she placed on the drawer, including the bag itself. And if it was Emma, why would she need hair from Rumpelstiltskin, and the vial Regina had given her was a locater spell. She hadn’t told her why she needed it, and Regina was getting the feeling she should’ve asked her.

“She couldn’t have broke it…” Regina said to herself, hoping in some way that she could believe in those words. It was undeniable that someone had broken into it, and her suspicions were increasing. She couldn’t stand there and think about what could have, she needed confirmation before she accuses Emma of taking Rumpelstiltskin's strands of golden hair. They still had magic in them, preserved from the time when Regina needed the Dark One’s whereabouts.

Good thing she knew where he was now that he was locked inside a cage. One he knew quite well from the time he was trapped inside before. This time around, he won’t be able to sneak or talk his way out. 

To ease her mind, Regina teleported herself in dark smoke to her old teacher. He won’t give her everything she hoped, but if she can at least ask him a question without anything in return, she won’t have to turn to Emma with concern. All this time, she had trained Emma, made sure her magic was sturdy enough that she could use it at her level, but if there was something more she wasn’t telling her, then she had to know what it was.

Regina appeared at the end of the hall where she walked along the cages toward the previous Dark One. The last time she had seen him was a year ago when his dagger was taken, and he was weakened beyond anything she had ever seen him before. Over the years, he had been strong, cocky, and cruel. When his power was taken, he crumpled into himself and became a ragged old man. He might not be as powerful as before, but he had to be kept away from others. His silver tongue could manipulate anyone.

“All this time and now you have come to visit, Your Majesty.’

Regina rolled her eyes and stood a foot away from the cage. She looked within where the man was sitting against the wall. He didn’t glint with gold like he had for so many years. A normal man who had fallen so low from his high prestige, and yet he spoke with confidence, and not dejection as she had thought. He never really let much harm his pride, whatever was left of it.

Regina took out the pouch of his golden hair and showed it to him. He looked up, eyes dark with heavy bags around his pallid, sunken, skin.

“Never thought of you as the sentimental type,” he said before looking away. 

She kept at her fingertips, smelling the dry earth within the cages, and the residue that was left behind. Her thoughts sang Emma’s name over and over again in a rhythm that made Regina tremble with uncertainty.

“This was sitting inside a drawer,” she told him, swinging the bag back and forth, “a spelled drawer.” She spotted his quirked smile while he said nothing. “Whoever took pieces of your hair was also here. I can smell the sharp magic, feel it in the air.”

“I’m sure you want an answer,” Rumpelstiltskin said in a drawl, lolling his head to the side and looking up with a hollow gaze, “unfortunately, I cannot tell you anything, a spell stops me from uttering the words that I’m sure you already know.”

A spell?

“They were here?” He started to hum softly, and Regina shook her head, taking a step back. “No. This is a lie.”

“How can I lie when I haven’t told you anything,” he asked her. “I’m sure the one lying is yourself, you know the truth, why are you here, Regina?” He seemed truly confused, but she wasn’t about to answer his question, her mind rattled with her own, filling up while she tried to find a perfect reason. 

She turned and faced the wall to her right and waved her hand as a smoke conjured her mirror. She was hesitate of using it, unsure of the answer she’ll get. The magic itself was still in the air. 

“Twenty minutes,” she said, and the image of the hall appeared, speeding up time until Regina slowed it down until a figure appeared. 

This couldn’t be right, even if she knew it was. She stepped back, shocked by the strange appearance, by the words and magic. She spoke to Rumplestiltskin with enough conviction she was going to get her way. The voices grew loud for Regina to hear what they were saying.

_ “Is there something you needed Dark One?” _

_ “One,” the woman said, her skin glinting like diamonds in the torch light, “you can stop calling me that.” _

_ “Oh,” Rumpelstiltskin spoke with enough cunning in his voice that Regina recognized hearing over the years, “ _ they _ don’t know, do they?” _

Regina’s heart raced as the woman said, _ “Two, give me your hand.” _

She waved her hand over the mirror and it vanished before she turned toward Rumpelstiltskin who was now standing, his hands gripping the the bars of his cage.

“She took your blood, why?”

“We both know why.” 

Regina shook her head, a pain in her chest at witnessing Emma holding the Dark One’s dagger. “How did she do it? How did she take it from you?”

He stared at her blankly. His mouth closed, blinking at her as if she hadn’t said anything. 

She glared, stepping closer as she leaned toward him. “Answer. Me.”

“I can’t,” he told her, “all I can do is assure you, Regina, that it wasn’t her who _ cut out my tongue _.”

She didn’t know who to believe. Her teacher who lied through his teeth, who smiled when he cruelly played joked on others, and destroyed lives in his long life of being the strongest magic user in all the realm, and now her pupil, the daughter to Snow and David was the Dark One. Out of all the people, why her? Why Emma? It’s been an entire year since Rumpelstiltskin became a normal man, who was locked away, and yet...he didn’t look as troubled as she would have thought.

“Who?” she asked, her mind full of other things she would have to do.

“Someone equally as powerful,” he answered, his words full of spite. 

Regina narrowed her eyes, confused and disturbed by everything she witnessed, and now she had to hear the last person to tell her something a lot more complicated.

“Who could be equally as powerful to a Dark One?” she asked him, but all he did was smile eerily as he melted back into the shadows of his cage, leaving Regina with a large impossible problem.


	4. Castle Made From Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Killian and Baelfire return to The Enchanted Forest.

He sat upon a mahogany table, legs swinging, a glass of wine in one hand, a blade in the other.

“Come now, Baelfire, you have a lovely place to lie your head down, and yet you want to travel back to The Enchanted forest,” Killian said, arching a brow and watching his friend packing a bag full of his clothes, some wrapped food they were able to grab before they set out on Killian’s ship, the Jolly Roger.

“I need to free my father,” Baelfire said, something Killian had rolled his eyes at a few times whenever Baelfire repeated himself.

And he was right about Baelfire having a nice place. Who wouldn’t want to sail the seas on The Jolly Roger. The ship had always been a safe place for Killian, somewhere he could run too and feel at home right away. He had given the space to Baelfire when they left The Enchanted Forest a year ago, and yet he was ready to return as if Killian’s good natured gift wasn’t good enough for him anymore.

“He’s perfectly fine where he is,” Killian said, taking a sip of his wine while setting the knife out of Baelfire’s sight once he had stood and turned around.

“With Regina,” Baelfire said, barely creasing his brows. “I can’t leave him like that.”

“Look, it’s not our fault he decided to become the Dark—”

“He’s not the Dark One anymore,” Baelfire interjected as he stepped across the room toward a cupboard and opened it to reveal a small pink and whitish ball. A crystal ball from what Baelfire had told him. He wrapped it in cloth and carefully set it into his pack, as if there weren’t anymore room left.

“You and I don’t know that.” He waved his hand that held the glass and spilled some on the table, which hardly bothered Killian as he took another sip. It was really easing the rising headache as they drew near The Enchanted Forest. The magic there was intense, it was filled to the brim of it, unlike some places that only the people had magic. The entirety of the forest was magic itself, and because of this, and the magic users, it gave Killian a headache he was trying to get used to since Baelfire brought up the excursion.

“I do,” Baelfire said, shooting a much stronger glare at Killian who smiled in return, “I was there, remember?”

Killian chuckled. “And I wasn’t, so you’re going to have to find another reason—”

He twisted around and shouted in the small room. “I’m the reason!”

Killian downed the rest of the wine. He’ll need more after this, and much more once they reach The Enchanted Forest. “Alright then,” he sighed, not like he was fighting the inevitable since they were so damn close. “Where are we headed first?”

Baelfire let out a chuckle. “You’re coming with me?”

He slid off the table, tucking the blade into a holster within his jacket as he left the glass where he had been sitting. “I might as well, I haven’t been wandering those woods in some time, and I’d like to speak to a few friends.”

“You have friends?” Baelfire quirked a smile. Now it seemed he wasn’t so angry about Killian’s insistence of his father being better chained up then set loose, even if he didn’t have the power he once had. The monster wasn’t so dangerous when he was simply a man beneath the facade he desperately hid behind.

“Yes,” Killian said dryly, “I have friends.”

Baelfire was knelt down in front of his pack once again. “We’ll head to his castle first, then I’ll have to speak with—”

A knock on the door interrupted him, and Killian walked over and found Mr. Smee standing in the hall. He had a rather droopy red hat sitting on top of his head. He seemed nervous, but he was always like that.

“Have we arrived?” Killian asked, letting his usual perky personality fade and picking up a much stoic approach when it comes to his crewmates.

“Y-Yes…” Mr. Smee then told Killian about some rather important things that had him step out of the room, and listen to Mr. Smee’s many requests of what is going on. Or at least he hoped he was listening, and was currently trying to keep up with the mental lists he was making in his head.

As he did this, he held onto the blade while he watched the ship grow increasingly closer to The Enchanted Forest. Once they arrived, he ordered Mr. Smee to keep the ship at port until he returns with Baelfire.

“How long will you be gone?” Mr. Smee asked while Killian stood on the ship, watching Baelfire walking down the gangplank, saying goodbye to a few of their crewmates.

“Not too long,” Killian said, distractedly.

“A few days?”

“A few days,” Killian said, patting Mr. Smee on the shoulder then he followed after Baelfire and through the small town. He gathered up some food as they headed into the forest. The thing about leaving The Enchanted Forest for a year was that some people kind of forgot how a few of them look over time. People had stuff to do then to remember a Captain of a infamous pirate ship, nor the son of the previous Dark One. Either way, Killian and Baelfire pulled their hoods over their heads as the forest darkened around them.

“A few hours out,” Baelfire mused as they stepped over a large root.

There was a heaviness in the air. A sort of syrupy feel, as if he walked in mud, but at the same time, he walked easily as if it were air. The contradiction itself was confusing, but the magic he felt within was alive and it seeped into his own skin and deep into his bones. He could probably stay awake for a long period of time, and never grow hungry either. Magic was his sustenance, and it’s no wonder the Dark One lingered within these woods.

He was surprised that most normal folk around these parts didn’t hold magic at their fingertips. Although, he knew that magic could only be taught by strong practitioners, and many weren’t willing to give it away just to anyone. Someone had to be quite adept at using magic, while some could be born with the magic in their blood. A rarity in certain terms, but it’s not like Killian cared all that much.

He barely used magic at all.

“You do realize that Regina isn’t going to let your father go just because you’re the one asking,” Killian said once they found the path to the previous Dark One’s castle.

“We had this conversation before, and I’d rather not repeat myself,” Baelfire told him.

Killian sighed. “I am correct in the notion, Baelfire, you have to realize that.”

“I’d really like not have this conversation again,” he said, a bit more tense in his words as he shot another glare at Killian over his shoulder. “I don’t care if she doesn’t let me, I’ll have—”

“And you’d actually think that this plan of yours will work?”

“I’m pretty confident.”

Killian nodded, yet not satisfied in the least. Baelfire was overconfident, and rarely thinks things through even if he’d like to pretend he does. It’s just something so telling in his nature. Killian had tried to mold him into something different, much more appealing to typical intuition than the usual recklessness that Killian has grown tired of. Except, Baelfire wasn’t the moldable type of person, which does explain his father’s frustration towards him.

“Regina’s much more…” What’s the word to describe her, “audacious. She really won’t care all that much if he’s your father or not, or if you’re the son. A strong will to have a father back who was stolen from you as a child—”

“Stolen,” Baelfire scoffed as he walked ahead.

“Fine,” Killian waved his hands. “He abandoned you in such a tumultuous way that you’re still frustratingly traumatized of the decisions _ he _ made so for some reason as a grown man you want to pick up those pieces when we both know he’s better off where he is.”

Baelfire had stopped on the path that led up to the gates and was giving Killian a passive expression. “Are you done?”

“You don’t have to fix what he has done,” Killian said, letting go of his own annoyance of the situation he was now in. “He did what he thought was right, while the world was against it, and because of it, his power was taken and he was put in a place he is meant to stay in. A punishment for the crimes he has committed.”

Baelfire turned away from Killian and continued toward the castle.

Killian let out a deep breath and muttered curses as he followed Baelfire along the path, and watched as he pushed open the large gate. From the looks of the courtyard, it wasn’t as well kept as it usually was. Not like Killian visited Rumplestilskin all that much. The man was still pissed off at him about something that happened centuries ago, and he guessed the pain was still present in Killian’s chest, but even that had faded alongside the pressure he was given a year ago.

“Do you think she still lives here?” Killian asked, catching up to Baelfire.

“I was thinking...that it might be too much for her,” Baelfire said, frowning up at the castle. There were a lot of windows that were somewhat covered up. Rooms that must’ve been ignored once the Dark One had faded last year. There were a few trees that weren’t as dead, and green leaves sprouted from the dark branches, including some flowers on the side. At least she was giving the place somewhat life.

The inside was another thing altogether. A lot of traps in some of those empty rooms. While the only ones inhabited by two people were left cleaned up and well used.

Baelfire touched the front door, and Killian wasn’t the only one to feel the pulse of magic snap.

“You think she learned something?” Killian asked, helping Baelfire push open the massive golden door.

“Blood magic isn’t usually used by someone like her, she’d need my father for that.”

They walked through the entrance, past the foyer, then Killian smelled something good in the air. Vegetables and meat being cooked somewhere down the hall.

“I’m so hungry,” Killian muttered under his breath.

The halls were well cleaned, and there was barely the smell of dust anywhere. Killian stayed near Baelfire, lowering the intensity of his own magic so he doesn’t accidentally set off a trap. And as they drew deeper into the castle, up the stairs to the second floor where they slowed down at the sound of singing.

“Seems she’s doing perfectly fine without my father,” Baelfire said, sounding relieved.

Killian agreed, until the singing came to a stop, followed by soft laughter that didn’t belong to the woman who had fallen in love with the Dark One. The laughter was different, unfamiliar to the both of them.

Killian and Baelfire stopped in the center of the hall when a small child with brown hair ran out from one of the rooms. His laughter rang in the hallway before coming to a stop when he spotted them, then a woman with long wavy brown hair followed after, she wore a blue dress that came above her ankles, and her sleeves were rolled up.

“Gideon, come here.” She picked the boy up into her arms, and followed where he was pointing to see them standing at the end of the hall. Her expression almost dropped, but her surprise turned to joy. “You’ve come back!”

Killian noticed Baelfire’s gaze was glued to the young boy in the woman’s arm’s as she walked over to them. He could feel the confusion and realization piecing together rather quickly.

“This is Gideon,” she said, smiling up at Baelfire, “your brother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. :/
> 
> I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> Comments and/or Kudo's are appreciated.


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